Saddle.



F. C. BEAL.

SADDLE.

APPLICATEON FILED MAY25, I916- Patented J an. 23, 1917 PM WASNINEYJN, n I:

FREDERICK o. BEA-L, or TORONTO/ONTARIO, CANADA.

SADDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 23, 1917.

Application filed May 25, 1916. Serial No. 99,851.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK C. BEAL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at the city of Toronto, in the county of York and Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Saddles; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

In LettersPatent ofthe United States, No. 1,155,465, dated October 5th, 1915, I have shown and described a saddle tree, particularly of that type used for military purposes, in which the feet of the front and rear arches are rivetedor otherwise rigidly fastened to two spacing members which hold them in their spaced relation, anda pair of hinged Sideboards are provided below the spacing members.

While the saddle. described in the above patent met all the requirements set forth in the general statement of the invention, so far as the automatic adjustment of the sideboards to the conformation of the back of the horse regardless of its physical condition was concerned, the saddle was open to the objection, when used for military purposes, that a rider was elevated too high to enable the thighs to properly grip the animals sides, this being occasioned by the presence of the spacing members below the feet of the arches and the Sideboards below the spacing members.

To overcome this disadvantage, and to rigidly hold the front and rear arches in their spaced relation, is the object of the present invention, which is accomplished by rigidly holding the front and rear arches in their spaced relation by a pair of spacing members connected to them interjacent their crests and feet, these spacing members following the conformation of the seat and being entirely free from contact therewith, as hereinafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings :Figure 1, is a perspective sectional view of a'saddle showing the front and rear arches, spacing members, Sideboards, suspension webs, and straining webs, the front and rear arches and the spacing members in this case being made of flanged metal; Fig. 2, is a similar view to Fig. 1, with the front and rear arches and spacing members of tubular metal.

set forth and particularly.-

Like characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

In the general construction of the saddle shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the usual conformation of the front and rear arches a and b respectively, is maintained, and these arches are rigidly held in their spaced relation by two spacing members 0, c located on opposite sides of the saddle and connected to the front and rear arches interj acent their crests d and .feet 6, and. at a sufiicient elevation above the feet to avoid contact with the animals back, even when the latter is in an emaciated condition. a I

As shown in Fig. .1, the front and rear arches a and b, and the spacing members 0, c, are made of channel metal, while in Fig. 2, the sameparts are made of tubular metal, it being preferable to use the tubular metal, as in this case, the-strength of the tree is combined with minimum weight. I

-As shown in Fig. 1, the spacing members 0, c are formed with forks f, 7, the forks 7 having lugs f by which the front end of each spacing member is riveted or welded to the front arch, the rear ends f of the forks f being shaped to contact the rear surface of the rear arch to which the forks f are riveted or welded. This fork construction of the spacing members provides two places of attachment for each end of each spacing member to its respective arch, for the purpose of holding the arches against turning movement.

In Fig. 2, the spacing members are brazed or welded to the front and rear arches, the ends of each spacing member in these cases being, preferably provided with semi-circular sleeves g transverse to the axis of the spacing member to provide suflicient bearings on the arches for a rigid connection of the spacing member to the arches.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the spacing members are connected to the front and rear arches approximately midway between the crest and the feet thereof, and are of a curved formation corresponding to the con- 4 tour of the seat h, suspended from thearches shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and are sufiiciently below the seat to prevent the latter coming into contact with the spacing members when the rider is in the saddle, that is to say, the ends of the spacing members are curved downwardly from each arch and inwardly toward the middle of the saddle tree, corresponding with the curvature of the saddle seat h which, as shown in the drawings, is curved downwardly from each arch toward the middle and is shaped so that it tapers from the rear to the front arch to conform to the spread between the thighs.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the feet of the arches are formed with sleeves c which are utilized as hinge members and below the feet of the arches are the sideboards 7' provided with hinge plates to having hinge lugs k embracing the ends of the sleeves c, and passing through the lugs and sleeves c are hinge pins Z by which the sideboards are rockably connected to the arches so that they can automatically adjust themselves to the conformation of the back upon which the saddle is placed.

The suspension webs m are connected to the front and rear arches below the saddle seat 71, and the straining webs m, passing over the top of the suspension web s, are connected to the spacing members, the suspension webs and the straining webs being tensioned to maintain the correct conformation of the saddle seat and to resist the seat stretching in a downward direction from the arches.

The manner of using the saddle forming the subject matter of the present application, is the same as that described with respect to the saddle forming the subject matter of Letters Patent No. 1,155,465, but the advantage of the present construction is that the saddle seat is at exactly the same elevation above the back, as in the case of the ordinary riding saddle of the universal type, where the front and rear arches are riveted to the Sideboards. i

Minor modifications within the scope of the appended claims, may be made in the construction of the arches, particularly with regard to the sleeves i, which may be either formed by bending the feet of the arches into a cylindrical form, or separately-made sleeves, welded, brazed, or screwed into the ends of the arches, may be used.

Having'thus fully de'scribed'the nature of inventiomwhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a saddle tree for a riding saddle, the combination offront and rear arches, a pair of spacing members at opposite sides of the saddle treeconnected to the arches interjacent their crests and'feet and of a contour corresponding to the saddle seat, and'serving to hold the 'arches rigidly in their assembled relation, a pair of sideboards below'the feet of the arches, and

Washington, 11c.

hinge members connecting the Sideboards to the arches.

2. Ina saddle tree for a riding saddle, the combination of tubular front and rear arches, pair of tubular spacing members at opposite sides of the saddle tree con nccted to the arches interjacent their crests and feet and of a contour corresponding to the saddle seat, and serving to hold the arches rigidly in their assembled relation, a pair of sideboards below the feet of the arches, and hinge members connecting the sideboards to the arches.

3. In a saddle, the combination of a saddle tree comprising frontandrear arches, a pair of spacing members at opposite sides of the saddle tree connected to the arches interjacent their crests and feet, and serving to hold the arches rigidly in their assembled relation, suspension webs connected to the front and rear arches, straining webs passing'overthe suspension webs and connected to the spacing membersand asaddle seat suspended from the front and rear arches above the suspension and straining webs and clear of contact with'the'spacing members.

1 a sadd t e em na i 0f saddle tree comprising front and rear arches, a pair of spacing members at opposite sides of the saddle tree connected to the arches interjacent their crests and feet, and serv ing to hold the arches rigidly in their assembled relation, suspension webs connected to the front and rear arches, straining webs passing over the'suspension webs and con nectedto the spacing members, a sa'ddle seat suspended from the front'and rear arches above the suspension and straining webs and clear of contact with the spacing members, and sideboards connected to the feet of the arches. J i

5. In a saddle, the combination of a saddle tree comprising front and rear arches, a pair of spacing members at opposite sides of the saddle tree connected to the arches interjacent their crests and -feet, and serving to hold the arches rigidly in their assembled relation, suspension webs connected to the frontiand rear arches, straining webs passing over the suspension webs and connected to the spacing members, a" saddle seat suspended from the "front and rear arches above the. suspension and straining webs and clear of contact with the spacing members, a pair of Sideboards below the feet of the arches, and hingemembers connecting the sideboards' to the arches.

Toronto, May 18th, 1916." a "FREDERICK C. BEAL.

Signed in the presence of- Gr ns. H. Ricnn's,

EDWARD BERNsrnIN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 

